Absent for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Federation of Industries of Rio de Janeiro (Firjan) returns this year to OTC Houston 2022, the largest offshore technology fair in the world, with the aim of attracting new international players to act in the Rio de Janeiro. For the federation, the state's greatest asset is the competence acquired to develop offshore projects, with great potential to advance in natural gas and a cleaner energy matrix, in addition to having innovation centers focused on the energy agenda, such as this is the case of its SENAI Institute for Innovation in Green Chemistry.

“Firjan considers it essential to raise awareness of natural gas applications and technologies to put it at the service of the development of the petrochemical industry and the energy transition both in the state of Rio and in the country”, highlights Eduardo Eugenio Gouvêa Vieira (photo), president from Firjan.

From May 2nd to 5th, Firjan, Firjan SENAI and Firjan SESI will be present at the ONIP (National Organization of the Oil Industry) stand at the Brazil Pavilion, organized by ApexBrasil. There, representatives of the Rio de Janeiro federation will meet with representatives of the main oil and gas companies in the world, in addition to visiting development and innovation research centers.

Firjan will show that the state of Rio is where the opportunities for oil, gas and also integrated with renewable energies in Brazil are concentrated, with more than 45 potential projects for investment.

Currently, the state of Rio de Janeiro is responsible for 85% of oil production and 71% of gas production and has the prospect of more than US$ 60 billion in investments in the exploration and production of oil and gas and in the infrastructure necessary to make the gas available. Natural. In addition, there is a new set of investments to increase production in mature fields by new operators that bought these areas from Petrobras.

These companies are medium-sized and have been adding projects to their portfolios each year, also contributing to the strengthening of the local production chain. Rio de Janeiro also has at least 10 potential renewable energy projects – including offshore wind and green hydrogen units.

There are also 3 natural gas processing units (UPGN) with a processing capacity of 51 mm m3/day; 2 LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals with a regasification capacity of 51 mm m3/day; 2 flow routes, with a flow capacity of 38 mm m3/day; and 8 transport pipelines.

Even though the fair is historically focused on the development of offshore oil and gas projects, this year the themes of Energy Transition, Decarbonization and New Energies are highlighted. These topics represent more than half of the panels planned in Congress.

Firjan also highlights the existing Macaé hub that will be enhanced with a new natural gas flow route, Route 5, scheduled for the mid-second half of the 2020s; the new Itaboraí-Maricá hub, with the integration of the GasLub Hub with Reduc.

There are also 2 potential hubs, one in the industrial region of Itaguaí-Santa Cruz, already served by the gas distribution network; and in Porto do Açu, which already has a gas import plant, but is not yet integrated with the rest of the piped gas system.

In its schedule, the Federation of Industries of Rio de Janeiro will participate in technical visits and business meetings, with mapping of opportunities to enhance the projects that will come into operation in the state, such as the 10 new oil production platforms planned until 2025, and the potential for synergy between the natural gas hubs in Rio de Janeiro.